Coil assembling machine



March 29, 1960 J. w. KOZAK 2,930,413

COIL ASSEMBLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19, 1955 INVEN TOR.

United States Para g.

COIL ASSEMBLING MACHINE.

W; Kozak, ,Kenosh'a, Wis assignor toFrank. II. Wells Company, Kenoslia,;Wis., a cor oration of Wisconsin 7 Application August 1?; .1955, SerialNo.1 529,384;

3 Claims. (Cl. 140'-92.'7)l

This invention relates to' new. and'limproved apparatus for; the:forming-and; assembly Of. offset or crimped coil springs for useascushioning. elementsin; the. mattress and furnitureindustries. i aA-.widely used type of such coilspring assemblies comprisest apluralityof: adjacently placed, vertically extend- .ing: coil; springs. with thesprings linked together by ,means of helical lengths. of. wire which arescrewed aroun'dadjacent touching portions of the top and bottomturns'oi-the coil springs. Thecoil springs ingeneraluse have-their topand bottomturnsflattenedwithxthe ends-of the=coilswrapped around: thetop turnsto form substantially complete circles; Another form ofconstructionprovides; top'andv bottom turns with flattened andotfsetrsections parallelwith tangents to the circles formedbytheseturns. This constructionv afiords adjacent fiat areas on theclosely spaced coils so that the coilconnecting helical wires may I bescrewed. around these flat 'tenedportions rather than curvedtouching-portions of circular, arcs. Such: flattened areas thus providemore efficient and longer connected areas with greater flexibility'andiless' binding in the assembled spring structure; These coils-.withflattened sections are, however, more, expensive than; the coils havinggenerally circular end portions. Also,-.when inserted'in the assemblymachines these coils require-exact. orientation to bringthe flattenedportions of. adjacent coils into parallel relation;

I'Pisan objectlof the present invention to provide new and improvedapparatus for the forming and assembly of offset orcrimpedcoilsprings.

It: is a further object of the invention t'o-provideva the: contactingportions.

It is anadditionalobject to provide apparatus of this character whichsimultaneously forms the mating portions-of twoadjacent'coilsprings. i

It is also an object to provide apparatus which is simpie: in design,construction and operation and'adapted for: use in combination with:other features; of standard commercial coil assembling machines.

Otherfand further objects will appear as the tionz'proceeds; g I

I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention in the'accompanyingdrawings in which- Figure-'l'is a. plan' viewer the apparatus with coilsin place; ,HFigure 2 is a vertical section through the apparatusdescrip- ..with coils in the forming dies;*

view as'seen fror'nlli'ne 3-3 ofjFigure-PZ;

fixed die holding mem-b'er 11. with lateral shouldersfitted under theoverhanging flanges: 15 of the guideway membe'rs-fl, best shown inFigure3: A fixed abutment member 19 is recessed in thebase member 11, asshownin Figure 2. The movable die carrying member 21 is: provided with.shoulders 22 in the/guideway 17. and is movable toward and away from thefixed die carrier member 13.

The bearing bracket 25" is secured to the underface of member 11.by thescrews 27 and is'one of a series of such brackets. These brackets 25carry a shaft 29 on whichisfixedly secured' the bell'crank 3-1. Theportion of'the bell crank 31 fitting around shaft 29- is bifurcated, asshown. in Figure 3; and the drive arm 33 has its lower end fixedly.secured on shaft 29 between the bifurcations. The upper 'end;35 of drivearm 33 fits in arecess 37 formed in theunderface of the movable diecarrying memberll'. The bell'crank member 31 has an upwardly extendingarm39 through which is threaded a drive screw 41. The inner end of thisdrive screw 41 engages the face of the:drive-arm 33 and the screw 41 isheld in adjusted positionby means of the lock nut 43.

The lower end of bell crank member 31'. has a laterally extending shaft44L which carries a roller 45-which engages a cam.46 secured to'shaft47' by-key 48, the shaft 47, being carriedinthe bracket 25".

As best shown in Figure 3, the'roller 45 extends' later ally'of the bellcrank-"31 ;andinto the closed raceway 49, shown in Figure 2, formed inthe adjacent lateral face The opposed faces; of the fixed and' movabledie carrying. membersx13= and Zl, respectively, are provided with matingsemi=cylindrical recesses-51 and'53,fas best be understoodthat beforetreatment in the die, the, top

and bottom portions of the coilsprings are substantially circular, asshown at: the left of spring 68in Figure 1.

The vertically rnova'ble stripper plunger 69' isslidable in openings inthe'bas'e plate. 11; in similar openings formed in the fixed and movabledie carrying members 13 andll and in: aligneds'openings 'inthe dies 55;57, 59 and'61. The lower end of plunger 69 carries a'rollfer 70whichrests upon thecam 71 carried by shaft 47adjacent cam 46, the: cambeing: keyed to the shaft and rotatable therewith; p

In the operation of the apparatus, the shaft 47 is rotated so that theroller 45'. is in the radially inward portiorr78 of the cam race49; Thispermits thelower arm; 31: of the bell, crank to'swing'to the left;asshown in Figure 2, which swings the movable die carrying member 21: tothe right; thus separating it'-frorr'r the fixed die member 13; Apreviously crimpedi and fortnedspring,

the space between the diesz-by: the; stripper plunge'r 69 which is'1lifted-by azri'seon: cam. 71' and'i s then moved laterally to theposition, in;whieli;it' iszshow'n in Figured;

' This lateral movement: may be. accomplished manually or by any;desired mechanical-Intends. The. secondzspring 68; at the left of Figure1, then has its terminal convolution inserted between the fixed die 13and the movable die 21 so as to rest upon the adjacent circular andunformed terminal convolution of the right hand spring 65.

Rotation of shaft 47 lowers the stripper plunger 69 and the spring 65moves down between the dies 57 and 61 while the superposed spring 68,resting on spring 65, has its arcuate edge moved down between the dies55 and llisfitted 'ontopofthe plate 3 59. The cam wheel 46 continues torotate in the counterclockwise direction and the radially outer portion73 of the cam race 49 thrusts roller 45 and the lower portion of bellcrank 31 to the right. This causes the head 35 of drive arm 33 to thrustthe movable die carrying member 21 to the left until the parts reach theposition shown in Figure 2. The mating dies 57 and 61 form .the portionof spring 65 which is clamped between them as shown in Figure 1.Similarly, the mating dies 55 and 59 form the adjacent portion of spring68 to the contour shown in Figure 1.

As the shaft 47 continues to rotate in the counterclockwise direction,the roller 45 rises into the dwell 75 in cam race 46 which causes thebell crank 31 to move in the clockwise manner about shaft 29, thusmoving the movable dies away from the fixed dies a suflicient distanceso that the adjacent formed portions of springs 65 and 68 may be liftedby the stripper plunger 69 whose roller 70 is now engaged by a highportion 72 of cam 71. As the roller 45 moves out of the dwell 75 intothe second high portion 77 of cam race 46, the fixed and movable diemembers are forced again to the position shown in Figure 2. At thistime, however, being held up by the stripper plunger 69, the formedspring portions 67 of springs 65 and 68 are in the cylindrical passageformed between the members 13 and 21 by the recesses 51 and 53, as shownin Figure 4. While they are held in this position the spiral 81 is woventhrough the cylindrical passage about the matching formed portions 67 ofsprings 65 and 68; thus joining the springs. The weaving of the spiralmay be done manually or mechanically by any well-known means.

After the weaving is completed the roller 45 moves down into a radiallyinward portion 78 of cam race 46; thus moving the movable die carrying.member 21 and opening the cylindrical passage and the joined coils arelifted out of the cylindrical recess together with the spiral which hasbeen woven through them to connect them. This lifting action is causedby a rise on cam 70 lifting the stripper plunger 69. The whole assemblyis moved to the right to bring the left side of coil 68 over and intothe space between the fixed and movable die carrying members and theprocess proceeds as before.

It will be understood that while a single unit has been shown, therewill normally be a multiplicity of duplicate units located along theshafts 29 and 47 so that a plurality of coils are simultaneously formedand then woven together by a continuous spiral 81 extending the fulllength of the coil assembly.

The apparatus, therefore, is capable, when provided in any desirednumber, of simultaneously crimping and forming fiat overlapping portionson a plurality of springs. It also holds the crimped springs in fixedposition so that a plurality of pairs of springs may be secured togetherby a single continuous weaving operation. Thus the less costly springswith the circular upper and lower portions may be simply formed withmatching fiat segments and in the same apparatus held for weaving in theusual manner.

My improved apparatus is adapted for use with usual commercialtypes ofcoil assembling and weaving ap paratus. Thus it may be used with anystandard types of feeding and weaving apparatus.

While I have shown one preferred form of my apparatus, this is to beunderstood to be illustrative only as it is capable of modification tomeet differing conditions and requirements and I therefore contemplatesuch variations as come within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for the forming and assembly of offset coil springs whichcomprises fixed die holding means and movable die holding means, a pairof tires carried one above the other by the fixed die holding means, apair of dies carried by the movable die holding means in mating relationto the dies carried by the fixed die holding means, the upper and lowermating pairs of dies being formed to each offset a coil spring, thefixed and movable die holding means being provided with mating recessesto receive the offset coil portions and to hold them for weaving aspiral about the offset coil portions to hold them in assembledrelation, means for lifting the offset coils from the dies to the matingrecesses, and means for moving the movable die holding means toward andaway from the fixed die holding means.

2. Apparatus for the forming and assembly of offset coil springs whichcomprises fixed die holding means and movable die holding means, a pairof dies carried one above the other by the fixed die holding means, apair of dies carried by the movable die holding means in mating relationto the dies carried by the fixed die holding means, the upper and lowermating pairs of dies being formed to each offset a coil spring, thefixed and movable die holding means being provided with mating recessesto receive the offset coil portions and to hold them for weaving aspiral about the offset coil portions to hold them in assembledrelation, the dies and fixed and mov able die holding means beingprovided with mating vertically extending openings forming a verticalpassage, a vertically movable stripper plunger operating in saidpassage, means for moving the plunger to lift the offset coil portionsfrom the dies into'the mating recesses in the fixed and movable dieholding members, and means for moving the movable die holding meanstoward and away from the fixed die holding means.

3. Apparatus for the forming and assembly of offsc coil springs whichcomprises fixed die holding means and movable die holding means, a pairof dies carried one above the other by the fixed die holding means, apair of dies carried by the movable die holding means in mating relationto the dies carried by the fixed die holding means, the upper and lowermating pairs of die being formed to each offset a coil spring, the fixedand movable die holding means being provided with mating recesses toreceive the ofiset coil portions and to hold them for weaving a spiralabout the ofiset coil portions to hold them in assembled relation, thedies and the fixed and movable die holding means being provided withmating vertically extending openings forming a vertical passage, avertically movable stripper plunger operating in said passage, means formoving the plunger to lift the offset coil portions from the dies intothe mating recesses in the fixed and movable die holding members, andmeans for moving the movable die holding means toward and away from thefixed die holding means, the means for moving the plunger and themovable die member comprising a rotatable shaft located below the fixedand movable die members and earns rotated by said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,905,459 Gail Apr. 25, 1933 2,176,262 Kirchner Oct. 17, 1939 2,420,512Woller May 13, 1 947

